Gratituesday - Our Corn Stove!

I've been meaning to wax poetic about something this winter . . . our corn stove! Even the Goose loves it, she wants it lit when it's not on so we can be "all warm and toasty!"

Right now, we're experiencing yet another cold snap, which isn't a big surprise since February is supposed to be cold and snowy this year. It's amazing how much peace I get from having this thing lit with a hopper full of corn, though.

Hubs bought it the first winter we were married. I was a bit skeptical, since I don't like to be too hot, and I also was a bit scared of running it. I didn't mess with it at all the first winter, but I have since learned how to run it and do everything except a few fixes that are beyond my grasp (something about a chain that falls off once in a while) and take out the ash - that pan is HEAVY and I let Hubs handle it. I actually thought about writing a post on how to light it, but I think that would be dull as dirt for most of you... During my recent cleaning and decluttering, I found the notes I made when learning to light the stove and had a chuckle at myself. I've come a long way!

With regards to being too hot, it certainly does get that way sometimes. We have figured out how to position a fan so that it moves heat into the other part of the house, though it does leave our basement QUITE chilly because no heat comes down there. But, since I now know how to shut it down AND start it back up once it does cool off, it's not so bad in the main part of our house. :>)

We're actually considering replacing our corn stove with one of the fancy new self-igniting ones. It has a thermostat, and will shut itself off and turn back on to keep the room at that temperature. How great is that??? And with trading in our old stove plus the biomass stove tax credit, I think we could get a heck of a deal.

You can see what others are thankful for over at Heavenly Homemakers.

PS - I'm also extremely thankful that a certain Goose is taking a nap today. She skipped naps the past two days and it's been a bit of a struggle for both of us.